While some baby names have been around forever (say hello to John, Sam, and William) -- some names are completely new. As naming expert Laura Wattenberg of BabyNameWizard.com explains, for the latest names in the popularity game, "When the ball dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve, 1999, these baby names didn't exist. Today, they're hits." How did this amazing turn of events come to be?

"Dozens of names that were unused in the U.S. at the dawn of the millennium now rank among the 1,000 most popular names for boys or girls," Wattenberg adds. "Their diverse styles paint a picture of the many kinds of name trends operating in America today."

Trends such as first names based on surnames, Indian names with a "double A," names influenced by the growing popularity of soccer in America, names based on fantasy, and of course, names with the letter "z" in them. As language grows and changes, these trends tend to let us know what the cultural pulse is -- what matters to us now, as opposed to what we prioritized in the past. Take a look at Wattenberg's list of the top baby names from the past two decades -- it might just be completely illuminating.